CompuPro (Hayward, Calif.)

CompuPro was founded by Bill Godbout in 1973 as CompuKit, which sold microcomputer kits to hobbyists. As CompuPro, the company became one of the top vendors of S-100 bus microcomputer products. It was one of the first companies to take advantage of the component interchangeability that the S-100 bus provided. By the early 1980s, CompuPro became a manufacturer of multi-user, multiprocessor systems.

Sold primarily to system developers and technology professionals, each System 816 was built to the customer’s specifications down to the choice of CPU and operating system. Like many S-100 systems, the 816 line required a terminal for data input and readout. The 816/C had both 8085 and 8088 CPUs, 512K RAM, and three operating systems: CP/M-80, CP/M-86, and MP/M 8-16. The later enabled the 816/C as a multi-user system. The System 68K uses the same enclosure and backplane as the System 816 series.